Slip-and-fall accidents commonly occur in areas having wet floor surfaces where the floors have been recently mopped or otherwise cleaned. In addition to the effect of water being present on a recently cleaned floor surface, detergents and other cleaning or polishing agents also decrease the coefficient of friction of the interface between the floor surface and an object contacting the floor surface such as, for example, a shoe of a person walking across the floor. The decreased coefficient of friction corresponds with a reduction in friction between the floor surface and objects contacting that surface as well as an increase in slipperiness of the floor surface. Conventional floor cleaning preparations are disadvantageous for this reason and often create a safety hazard to individuals walking across a recently cleaned floor.
Conventional cleaning preparations also present a disadvantage in that many are unsafe for use on floors polished with a floor finish. These conventional cleaning preparations may be corrosive and may damage a finished floor surface by removing the finish that was used to polish the floor. Conventional cleaning preparations are also problematic because most must be rinsed to prevent the accumulation of a chemical film that deposits onto the surface being cleaned.
A need exists for a cleaning preparation, and particularly a floor-cleaning preparation, that increases the coefficient of friction and slip resistance between a surface being cleaned and an object contacting that surface, thereby decreasing the slipperiness of the surface being cleaned. A need also exists for a cleaning preparation that does not damage finished floors by removing the finish from the floor surface or otherwise negatively affecting the floor's appearance. Still a further need exists for a cleaning and polishing preparation that evaporates without depositing chemical film that can accumulate on the surface being cleaned and which does not require rinsing to remove after application.